Where All Those Repossessed Aussie Caravans Actually Ended Up (And What They're Going For Now)

📕 My honest car, ute & 4WD guides — buy the right one, then keep it alive 👉 https://aussiemechanicgreg.com There is a bloke whose whole job is to go and collect caravans off people who have stopped paying for them. What almost nobody knows is what happens next: the van sits, and it sits because the law says it has to. Once you know the sequence of paperwork between a van being hooked up and a van being sold, you can work out the minimum yourself. It is about five weeks, and usually a lot longer. I went looking for the story everybody expects — a wave of repossessions filling the lanes with cheap vans. It is not there, and I am not going to invent it. What is there is more useful: a small, steady stream of stock with a completely different history from everything else in the yard, one genuinely large trap that can cost you the entire van, and one check that costs two dollars. What I cover: - What repossession legally is: the 30-day default notice, the 14-day notice, the 21-day window before it can be sold, and the duty to get the best price reasonably obtainable - The five-week floor the statute itself guarantees — why the standing time is written into the law and not into a careless owner - Where the repo vans come back out: the auction houses' recreational lanes, and dealer wholesale - What a forced recovery leaves behind: the coupling, the jockey wheel, the A-frame, the brakes - What months in a compound do: tyre date codes, and where water gets in - Why the consumer guarantees you rely on DON'T apply to anything bought at auction - The two-dollar PPSR search, and the private sale it exists to save you from - Two honest reasons I'd walk straight past a repossessed van - My five checks, in order, before anybody hands over money FACT-CHECK: Under the National Credit Code (NCCP Act 2009, Sch 1) a credit provider must give a default notice allowing at least 30 days to remedy the default before enforcement; within 14 days of taking goods it must give written notice of the date taken, the estimated value, enforcement costs and the borrower's rights, including that the goods cannot be sold for 21 days; if nothing is arranged it must sell as soon as possible for the best price reasonably obtainable and then account in writing for the proceeds, with any shortfall due immediately. Entry to residential property requires written consent or a court order. A court order is required where the amount owing is under 25% of the original loan for loans under $40,000, or under $10,000 above that. No national figure for caravan repossessions is published publicly; the RBA's 2026 Financial Stability Review reports household loan arrears remaining at low levels. Reported market conditions: well-specced 4–5 year old vans reaching the used market at around 25–40% below new pricing, softening concentrated under about $35,000, premium used vans under five years old with off-grid capability holding or rising, and no fire-sale pricing expected. Caravan Industry Association of Australia: 23,963 RVs produced in 2025, down 4.9% on 2024 but about 12% above 2019; registrations up about 4% to approximately 937,000. Pickles and Manheim both publicly run recreational auction lanes taking finance repossessions, insurance salvage, ex-rental fleet and consignment stock; auction lots are sold "as is, where is" and the Australian Consumer Law consumer guarantees (ss 54–59) do not apply to goods sold by auction where the auctioneer acts as the seller's agent; a buyer's premium is charged as an announced percentage on top of the hammer price. The Personal Property Securities Register records security interests over caravans; a search costs about $2, and a van bought privately with money still owing can be repossessed from the new owner. Caravan tyres age out before they wear out and are recommended for replacement past roughly seven years regardless of tread; the four-digit sidewall code gives week and year of manufacture. Water ingress is reported as the most common and most costly fault found at pre-purchase inspection. Where there is no record for brakes and wheel bearings, $300–$500 is the commonly quoted budget. All prices, premiums, costs and values are indicative and vary. DISCLAIMER: General information and my honest opinion — NOT purchasing, mechanical, insurance, financial or legal advice. No lender, finance company, auction house, dealer, recovery agent or manufacturer named or referred to here is accused of any wrongdoing; repossession, auction and wholesale practices are described as ordinary, lawfully disclosed trade practice. Credit law is Commonwealth but registration, gas-certificate and roadworthy requirements differ between states — check the rules where you are buying. Always have a qualified caravan technician carry out a pre-purchase inspection, confirm the gas certificate and compliance plate, and run a PPSR check before you hand over any money.